Proceedings of the 2026 4th International Conference on Digital Economy and Management Science (CDEMS 2026)

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Digital Technology Innovation and Corporate Labor Cost Stickiness

Authors
Siyuan Liu1, *
1School of Information, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China
*Corresponding author. Email: 18851896032@163.com
Corresponding Author
Siyuan Liu
Available Online 2 June 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-699-9_15How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Digital technology innovation; Labor cost stickiness; Skill premium; Economies of scale
Abstract

Using data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2009 to 2022, this paper examines whether digital technology innovation affects labor cost stickiness. To do so, it constructs a firm-level measure of digital technology innovation based on patent applications matched to official digital-economy industry classifications. The results show that digital technology innovation significantly increases labor cost stickiness by amplifying the asymmetry of firms’ labor-demand adjustment over expansions and contractions. This finding remains robust to instrumental-variable estimation and a wide range of robustness checks. Mechanism analyses indicate that the effect operates through stronger economies of scale and higher labor adjustment costs associated with skill upgrading and a larger skill premium. Further heterogeneity analyses show that the effect is more pronounced among labor-intensive firms, firms closer to the digital technological frontier, and firms operating in more competitive markets.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2026 4th International Conference on Digital Economy and Management Science (CDEMS 2026)
Series
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date
2 June 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-699-9
ISSN
2352-5428
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-699-9_15How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Siyuan Liu
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/02
TI  - Digital Technology Innovation and Corporate Labor Cost Stickiness
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 4th International Conference on Digital Economy and Management Science (CDEMS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 121
EP  - 134
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-699-9_15
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-699-9_15
ID  - Liu2026
ER  -